Boat lights often are mounted on the bow of the boat or on the hull or cabin of the boat so as to extend upwardly for visibility and projection of the light. These lights include conventional red and green navigation lights, as well as white lights. The raised position of such conventionally mounted lights presents a hazard, since the light projects upwardly or outwardly from the boat deck, whether or not the light is in use. Such raised lights may be tripped over, bumped into, or entangled by a rope. If mounted on the outside hull of the boat, such outwardly projecting lights may strike a dock, piling, or other structure and cause damage to the light or to the boat.
More recently, some boat lights have been pivotally mounted to the deck so as to be moveable between a flush position with the light recessed into the boat when not in use, and a raised or extending position above the deck surface when the light is in use. For example, see Applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 5,268,824 which shows a pivotally mounted light which can be manually moved between the flush lower position and the raised upper position. In the '824 patent, a pair of resilient fingers releasably engage a post on the pivotal light member to retain the light in either the raised or lowered positions. However, such movement of the light requires strength in the operator's fingers to overcome the tight, frictional engagement of the retention fingers, which is difficult for some people.
Accordingly, a primary objective of the present invention is a provision of an improved boat light which is quickly and easily moveable between a raised and lowered position.
Another objective of the present invention is the provision of an improved boat light which is spring biased toward a raised position.
Still another objective of the present invention is the provision of a spring biased boat light which is moveable between raised and lowered positions, and retained in the lowered position by a sliding lock member.
Yet another objective of the present invention is the provision of an improved boat light which is releasably retained in the lowered position by a spring biased pawl.
Another objective of the present invention is the provision of an improved boat light which is economical to manufacture and durable in use.
These and other objectives will become apparent from the following description of the invention.